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Libraries. By type. Counties and Aran, areas and provinces

Libraries. By types. Counties and Aran, areas and provinces 2018
Public For specific user groups Higher education institutes Specialities Total Books
Alt Camp 4 0 0 5 9 103,304
Alt Empordà 9 1 0 7 17 342,252
Alt Penedès 9 0 0 3 12 161,870
Alt Urgell 2 0 1 3 6 79,360
Alta Ribagorça 1 0 0 1 2 20,846
Anoia 10 0 0 3 13 291,941
Aran 2 0 0 2 4 55,529
Bages 18 1 1 6 26 778,797
Baix Camp 13 0 0 4 17 596,878
Baix Ebre 11 1 1 7 20 254,655
Baix Empordà 11 0 0 5 16 330,074
Baix Llobregat 33 2 1 20 56 1,284,549
Baix Penedès 9 0 0 2 11 178,907
Barcelonès 61 3 30 133 227 11,327,817
Berguedà 5 0 0 3 8 108,926
Cerdanya 2 0 0 2 4 54,736
Conca de Barberà 4 0 0 4 8 224,824
Garraf 7 0 1 4 12 341,225
Garrigues 8 0 0 1 9 82,536
Garrotxa 7 0 0 4 11 156,707
Gironès 14 1 1 12 28 1,151,245
Maresme 29 0 1 5 35 1,185,723
Moianès 1 0 0 0 1 29,803
Montsià 11 0 0 1 12 187,925
Noguera 6 0 0 3 9 113,048
Osona 17 0 2 6 25 618,900
Pallars Jussà 2 0 1 1 4 55,353
Pallars Sobirà 2 0 0 2 4 21,956
Pla d'Urgell 9 0 0 1 10 118,214
Pla de l'Estany 3 0 0 1 4 79,030
Priorat 2 0 0 2 4 32,374
Ribera d'Ebre 8 0 0 2 10 100,808
Ripollès 5 0 0 2 7 112,284
Segarra 4 0 1 2 7 91,527
Segrià 15 2 2 11 30 895,980
Selva 15 0 0 3 18 330,750
Solsonès 2 0 0 3 5 42,628
Tarragonès 15 1 1 11 28 937,466
Terra Alta 4 0 0 1 5 60,193
Urgell 5 1 0 3 9 104,970
Vallès Occidental 35 0 11 23 69 2,300,486
Vallès Oriental 29 2 0 7 38 862,595
Catalonia 459 15 55 321 850 26,208,991
Metropolità 187 7 43 188 425 16,961,170
Comarques Gironines 64 2 1 34 101 2,502,342
Camp de Tarragona 38 1 1 26 66 1,894,846
Terres de l'Ebre 34 1 1 11 47 603,581
Ponent 47 3 3 21 74 1,406,275
Comarques Centrals 44 1 3 18 66 1,597,354
Alt Pirineu i Aran 11 0 2 11 24 287,780
Penedès 34 0 1 12 47 955,643
Barcelona 254 8 47 213 522 19,292,632
Girona 65 2 1 36 104 2,546,518
Lleida 59 3 5 33 100 1,692,507
Tarragona 81 2 2 39 124 2,677,334
Source: Idescat. Estadística de biblioteques.

Last update: December 10, 2019.

BIB

These statistics have a specific section with all the information available: Library Survey (BIB).

Methodological note

Definition of concepts

Library
Organised collection of books and printed periodical publications or any other type of document, especially graphic or audiovisual ones, and a service of staff that assists users in their use of said documents for purposes of information, research, education or leisure. The library is also the administrative unit (the same management) which can contain one or more points of service. There are two types, as follows:
Libraries of higher education institutes
Library mainly dedicated to servicing students and teaching staff at university faculties, higher technical colleges, university colleges and other public or private centres of higher education.
Specialised libraries
Library that depends on an association, official service, research centre, museum or any other body dedicated to a particular discipline or branch, which determines the documentary content of the library. Can provide documentation or services to any body requesting it, or may be essentially designed to respond to the information needs of a certain audience.
National library
Institution whose purpose is to collect, conserve and provide access to Catalan bibliographic production and that related to the linguistic area of the Catalan language.
Public library
Library that is at the service of a community, especially a local community, and that attends to the general public (does not include military libraries). Includes both publicly owned libraries and those financed by private entities (savings banks associations, etc.) that are at the service of a community.

Methodological aspects

Untitled

The data for libraries has been obtained from the Library Statistics which is conducted biennially by the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat) at libraries that are open to the public.

The main goal of this operation is to produce statistical information on the main characteristics of libraries, including:

  • structure
  • operation
  • equipment
  • staff
  • expenditures
  • services

These statistics have been performed in accordance with a collaboration agreement signed between the National Statistical Institute INE and Idescat, and in conjunction with the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

These statistics are of a census nature and collect information on all libraries, regardless of their administrative dependence. Nevertheless, there are some exclusions: on the one hand, private libraries that belong to private bodies or individuals and the use of which is not open to the public, not even under special conditions; and on the other, school. From 2016 onwards, information has been obtained from the military libraries in Catalonia.

Information that is not available is represented using the symbol ":". When the value is lower than the minimum unit allowed to estimate the statistical operation, or affects statistical secret, the symbol used is "..".

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